Truckee High Students Study River Ecology

This past week, June 10-13, students from the River Ecology course at Truckee High school took their science class outside to investigate some of their local waterways. Just a few minutes walk from their school lie Donner Creek and Cold Stream. During their work with Headwaters, these students were challenged to assess the health of these two waterways using the different techniques they learned throughout the semester.

Check out what students have to say about their projects:

The importance of studying a topic like this, especially in waterways local to the students’ hometown, is to help them understand the ecology of the natural world around them. These students learned that the health of a waterway can be observed by what’s in it, evidenced by the slide from one group presentation shown here.

Not only did these students come up with some great research projects, they also gained important science skills. The percentage of students that responded as confident in their ability to apply the scientific method increased by 46% between pre and post program surveys. Furthermore, the percentage of students very concerned with protecting the plants, animals and natural resources in these two waterways increased by 28%.

Thank you to the Martis Camp Community Foundation, Truckee Tahoe Airport Foundation, Truckee Rotary, and other community partners that made this program possible.